Rapid  City South Dakota

49th Annual Jugglers Festival

July 16 - 21

The Indians of the Great Sioux Nation (the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota tribes) have called this land of rocky hills thickly dotted with dark green-black pines and bright blue skies home for centuries. A land rich with history, struggle and sacrifice, South Dakota is a place that will call to your spiritual instincts with its beauty and that spark of sacred ground. Discover here what some call the "gates to heaven", where movies such as "Dances with Wolves" was filmed and stories such as "Rocky Raccoon" could have token place...

Discover the magic for yourself when you experience Rapid City and the Black Hills of South Dakota and its surrounding treasures.

Located in the geographic center of the United States, Rapid City rests along the eastern slope of the Black Hills, where the foothills literally rise out of the city's central business district!

With a population of nearly 58,000, Rapid City is the second largest city in South Dakota, and offers an open western atmosphere with the friendliest people you'll find anywhere.

Rapid City's climate is semi-arid. Its elevation of 3,240 feet produces cool evenings in the summer with daytime highs ranging from 65 to 90 .

Rapid City is less than a half-day's drive to 5 notional parks, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore National Memorial and our nation's first national monument, Devils Tower, Wyoming.

Richly blessed with an abundance of natural beauty, family attractions, great wildlife parks and some of our country's most famous Old West history, outdoor recreation opportunities are everywhere. Fishing, camping, hiking and backpacking, horseback riding, panning for gold, waters ports, rock-hounding and, rock­climbing - considered some of the best in the world!

SPECIAL GUESTS

BOB BRAMSON - Beyond Awesome! -IJA Historical Achievement Award

In the contemporary world of entertainment, the name Bramson is synonymous with hoop rolling and juggling. Bob Bramson, bom in Berlin in 1933, comes from a well-known family of performers. His grandfather, father and mother were all outstanding and original juggling artists and hoop manipulators.

In 1945, after the war, Mr. Bramson began performing as a young boy, with his parents as a trio called "the Bramsons". Bob, who had been practicing since the age of six, had not only his schoolwork, but a heavy training schedule as well, which included ballet, piano and guitar lessons, and juggling practice.

In 1953, Mr. Bramson's father, Paul Renner suffered a heart attack on stage at the Apollo Theatre in Dusseldorf, and died after a career also spanning more than fifty years. Bob then carried on the family act with his mother until 1964, when he went on to work solo.